Over 20 People Were at the Table When Trump Met the Saudis. None Were Women.

By Emily Cochrane

March 21, 2018

Image

President Trump and an all-male delegation hosted Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and members of the Saudi delegation in the Cabinet Room on Tuesday.CreditDoug Mills/The New York Times

When President Trump met on Tuesday with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia, a year after he first hosted the prince at the White House, something was missing. Women.

Photos from Tuesday’s meeting show that the dynamics at the table remained relatively unchanged since the last meeting, and persistently male. After years of American foreign policy that has pushed for human rights, such a stark absence of women — and minorities — could send a symbolic message to the ultraconservative country known for its oppression of women and religious minorities.

Some in attendance on the American side: Vice President Mike Pence; Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and senior adviser; and Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, the national security adviser,joined an all-male Saudi delegation for a second consecutive year. John F. Kelly, the chief of staff; Rick Perry, the energy secretary; and Gary D. Cohn, the departing top economic adviser, also joined the president.

Image

The meeting took place in the Cabinet Room of the White House.CreditDoug Mills/The New York Times

Saudi leaders have loosened some restrictions on women in the country, including undoing a longtime ban on allowing women to drive. But the country is still considered to be heavily oppressive toward women.

The foreign policy delegations for most United States administrations have been predominately male, though in recent years women including Madeleine K. Albright, Condoleezza Rice, Susan E. Rice and Hillary Clinton have played key roles in diplomatic relations as top cabinet officials.

Ivanka Trump, the president’s oldest daughter and senior adviser, has represented her father at meetings with Saudi royals before, but was not in attendance this time.